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Our news team caught up with Kim Vasquez, youth development officer, who explained what the festival is about and what to expect from this year's participants.

Kim Vasquez - Youth Development Officer, ICA
"The national festival of arts kicks off today here at the House of Culture. What we have done is to bussed in students from all across the country. We have a line-up featuring 6 poster youths - these are outstanding youths from across the country, one from each district that has really excelled in one of the disciplines and they are here to also perform on stage with us and then we have a week filled with performance and showcasing their activities."

Robin Schaffer
"The Bliss is being remodelled; will that affect it as well?"

Kim Vasquez - Youth Development Officer, ICA
"Not necessarily, actually we are anticipating that the stage will be ready in time for the perform and showcase and that the kids will sort of christened the stage for us, the new stage at the Bliss."

Robin Schaffer
"It's raining, how do you guys plan to deal with that?"

Kim Vasquez - Youth Development Officer, ICA
"The only thing we can do is hope that the rain will stop and that we will be able to proceed with the parade."

Micah Goodin - Poster Youth for Belize "What if I told you that I never enjoyed the distasteful kisses and one of the many disgraceful wishes in my head is to keep you far from my heart but close to my bed. Each time I said I love you, I like you less. Each time I said that I trusted you; I gave you the counterfeit of a benefit that I have not truly possess. Each time I said that I miss you, I was with someone else. I was loving myself because I am tired of skipping tripping and back flipping between these broken shaky tiles of STDs."

Emmanuel Saqui - Poster Youth for Stann Creek
"Let me take you to my past to feel like me again. Never made it last, I am like Eminem not afraid of anything. I keep pushing to the end til I win. I am in an airplane flying high in the sky til they try to bring me down. I am lost but now I am found."

"Now I am here for you to listen to me. I'll let you know the pain and the struggle I've been through. Stand up, take off like an airplane."

The opening ceremony should have led into a street parade in the city, but it was cancelled due to a downpour. But while it may have rained on their parade, it did not dampen the students' spirits. They marched back through the gates of the House of Culture and danced to the beat of the drums- and thunder.

Students will begin performing at the Bliss Center tomorrow at 10 in the morning. Seniors will perform on Thursday and Friday at 6 p.m. The tickets are $5 for adults and $2 for children.